Time Out - Break Reminders
17+

You deserve a break.

Screenshots

Description

You deserve a break. Easy break reminders, with flexible customization if you want it.

It is very easy to fall into bad habits when using a computer for hours on end. You care about what you are doing, so can sometimes push yourself too far, or over-strain yourself. The human body isn't built to sit in one position for endless hours, gripping a mouse or typing on the keyboard. Dejal Time Out is here to help. It will gently remind you to take a break on a regular basis.

Time Out comes with two kinds of breaks: a "Normal" break, typically for 10 minutes every hour, so you can move about and relax, plus a "Micro" break: a very brief pause of typically 15 seconds every 15 minutes, so you can remember not to tense up too much for long periods. You can change, disable or remove either kind of break if desired, and add new kinds of breaks, e.g. fixed lunch or afternoon breaks.

You can configure how long each kind of break lasts, and how long between breaks, and the breaks can be set to count backwards when you take a natural break, e.g. when you go away from your computer.

Version 2 features customizable break themes, with several variations to show during breaks. These themes can be edited if desired, using standard HTML.

While in a break, a progress bar shows how long till it is over, and buttons are available to postpone or skip the break if you can't be interrupted right then.

What's more, you can optionally perform various actions before, during or after breaks. You can display a notification, play a sound, speak some text, run a script, and more.

What’s New

Version History

2.5

17 Oct 2018

• Mojave dark mode and compatibility.• New option to choose which days of the week a break is available.• New option to disable the app switcher, force quit, and shut down panels during a break.• Plus other improvements. Read the release notes on the Updates page in the app for full details.

2.4

18 Mar 2018

• Added a Statistics page under Activity, that includes a summary of breaks and a line chart of the number of times a break was postponed, skipped, or done in a day, or the total duration of breaks.• Option to disable buttons for a few seconds, to help break a habitual clicking of the buttons; to encourage you to consider if you really need to skip a break.• Advanced option to change the amount of time the computer isn't being used to count as a natural break.• Refined the break scheduler.• Enhanced postpone and skip limits.• Preferences window tweaks.• Plus other improvements. Read the release notes on the Updates page in the app for full details.

2.3

1 Oct 2017

• Added an option to the Break Appearance preferences page to enable displaying the number of times a break has been postponed, skipped, and/or done each day, so you know how "good" you're being today.• Also added options to enable limiting the number of times a break can be postponed and/or skipped each day. Useful if you find those buttons too hard to resist, but still want them there sometimes.• Added an option to the Break Name preferences page to show the break label as a miniature pie chart of today's postponed/skipped/done counts.• Added and updated several break themes.• Several changes and fixes for High Sierra compatibility, and other improvements.

2.2.1

17 Mar 2017

- Fixed schedule adjustments after waking from sleep (it was incorrectly adding the sleep duration to the due time).- Fixed handling of an Available range when the frequency is daily or longer (e.g. for a daily lunchtime break).

2.2

13 Mar 2017

* Optionally track breaks and/or app usage via a new Activity feature.* More themes, including "Muscles", to show a random exercise (from a customizable list), "GiphyStretch" theme, to show a series of stretching GIFs, and "GiphyPuppies", to show a series of puppy GIFs.* Break theme improvements, including enhanced JavaScript support for theme makers, to get info about the break configuration and state.* Break action improvements.* Added a View menu, to enable easier navigation of the preference pages.* Added an alert when turning on the option to automatically start Time Out, if the app isn't in the Applications folder.* Added a separate Exclusions preference to skip breaks when the Mac display is asleep (in addition to the preference to skip during the screensaver).* And several other improvements; see the Updates page in the app for details.

2.0.2

24 Mar 2016

* Scheduler improvements

- By popular request, increased the number of digits for the "Break for" duration and "Every" frequency on the Break Schedule page from 2 to 3, so you can enter 150 minutes to have a break every 2.5 hours, for example.- Also added an option on the Exclusions page to automatically skip breaks that fall due while the screensaver is active, the display is asleep, another user is active, or the Mac is asleep. This defaults to on.- Tweaked the scheduler to avoid App Nap interfering with idle detection and starting breaks when the window is closed and no status item is shown.- Scheduler logging (in Advanced preferences) is now off by default for new users.

* Mac App Store fixes

- Fixed another issue that prevented purchases from working for some people with the Mac App Store edition.

Version 2.0 included far too many changes to list here; highlights include:

2.0.1

14 Mar 2016

Thanks for all the kind words about Time Out 2! If you're experiencing any issues, please get in touch via the Dejal website; I'm happy to help.

* Made some things more intuitive

- On first launch, now selects the Break Schedule page by default, instead of General, to make it more obvious that the break items can be selected to edit the breaks.- When trying a supporter reward, the heart icon button next to the control now remains visible and red, to indicate that it is being tried.- Also, when first trying a supporter reward, the information popover now automatically appears, since some people didn't discover this.

* Mac App Store fixes

- Fixed an issue that prevented purchases from working for some people with the Mac App Store edition.- After successful purchase, now asks you to create or update your supporter account, so your supporter status can be restored.- Changed the Restore Previous Purchases feature to use the supporter account, since the StoreKit restoration approach isn't available for non-renewing subscriptions.

Hundreds of improvements in 2.0! Highlights include:

* Redesigned app icon* Redesigned Preferences window* No longer needs to be in the Dock* New menubar status item with a countdown to the next break* Assign global keyboard shortcuts to start, defer, pause, etc* Add any number of breaks* Rename, label and comment on breaks* Scheduling improvements* Limit breaks to a time range* Support for natural breaks* Better appearance* Customizable HTML-based break themes* Redesigned & movable control panel during breaks* Add actions to notify of due, starting or finishing breaks* Enhanced app exclusions* Several advanced options* New supporter options* Optimized for Yosemite and El Capitan

See the full release notes via the Dejal web site for details.

2.0

6 Mar 2016

Hundreds of improvements! Highlights include:

* Redesigned app icon* Redesigned Preferences window* No longer needs to be in the Dock* New menubar status item with a countdown to the next break* Assign global keyboard shortcuts to start, defer, pause, etc* Add any number of breaks* Rename, label and comment on breaks* Scheduling improvements* Limit breaks to a time range* Support for natural breaks* Better appearance* Customizable HTML-based break themes* Redesigned & movable control panel during breaks* Add actions to notify of due, starting or finishing breaks* Enhanced app exclusions* Several advanced options* New supporter options* Optimized for Yosemite and El Capitan

See the full release notes via the Dejal web site for details.

1.6.5

1 May 2012

- Fixed incorrect display of when the next normal break is due.

1.6.4

23 Feb 2012

- Improved compatibility with Mac OS X 10.7.3.

1.6.3

16 Nov 2011

- Idle detection didn't work for a few people, so now tries a different approach if the idle interval appears invalid.

1.6.2

5 Oct 2011

- The break timers are now reset when idle for the specified interval, even while still idle (it used to only reset when no longer idle).- Breaks can now occur when idle, to avoid missing breaks when the computer is left alone for a few minutes, but less than the reset interval.- Updated the "Start Speech" Automator workflow, and added a "Speak Time" script that does just that.

1.6.1

9 Sep 2011

- Added a new Exclusions preference page, which is only available on Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion). It enables you to automatically skip breaks if specified applications are frontmost, e.g. DVD Player, FaceTime, or similar.- Added a sub-menu on the Pause Breaks command in the Break menu, to enable pausing for a specified interval. When that interval has elapsed, breaks will automatically resume. Useful when you don't want to be interrupted for a while.- On first launch (or first in a while), Time Out now displays the Preferences window, to make it more obvious how to configure the breaks.- Moved the break display into a helper agent, so it works for Lion's full-screen apps.- Plus other fixes for Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) compatibility.

1.5.7

21 Dec 2010

17 Oct 2018

Version 2.5

• Mojave dark mode and compatibility.• New option to choose which days of the week a break is available.• New option to disable the app switcher, force quit, and shut down panels during a break.• Plus other improvements. Read the release notes on the Updates page in the app for full details.

Ratings and Reviews

4.6 out of 5

24 Ratings

24 Ratings

Vinedresser101
,11/12/2017

On the way -good, but frustrating

Brought on the back of some great reviews, this app mostly offers what it promies but with some frustrating issues. Firstly, settings are great, easy to use and the interface is clear and intuitive. reminders come on gently and on time and are pleasant to look at. However, if your computer goes to screensaver mode like mine after a few minutes of non-activity, this app does not like it. The menu bar icon disappears when you come back, and you have to manually reengage it. That gets tedious having to do this every time you want to take a break. And is further not helped by the app defaulting onto the painfully irritating ‘buy me options’ as if to emphasise you took a break. Secondly, the app does not notice when you have stopped working for a while. It still keeps on ticking down regardless of claiming to monitor your trackpad, mouse or keyboard - all options that I tried. This makes it necessary to constantly restart or skip breaks, which then knocks one or the other of the 2 timers, short and long out of sync, defeating the object of the app. Much to like, but irritating to keep. I’ll be sadly deleting mine for an alternative.

Developer Response
,03/01/2018

I'm sorry Time Out wasn't reliable for you. The issue of the status item disappearing would be because that is a supporter reward; you can try it for an hour at a time for free. Not detecting idle might be due to not being authorized in the Accessibility System Preferences, or you could switch idle detectors in the Advanced prefs. I hope you'll give the app another try!

Vinedresser101
,11/12/2017

On the way -good, but frustrating

Brought on the back of some great reviews, this app mostly offers what it promies but with some frustrating issues. Firstly, settings are great, easy to use and the interface is clear and intuitive. reminders come on gently and on time and are pleasant to look at. However, if your computer goes to screensaver mode like mine after a few minutes of non-activity, this app does not like it. The menu bar icon disappears when you come back, and you have to manually reengage it. That gets tedious having to do this every time you want to take a break. And is further not helped by the app defaulting onto the painfully irritating ‘buy me options’ as if to emphasise you took a break. Secondly, the app does not notice when you have stopped working for a while. It still keeps on ticking down regardless of claiming to monitor your trackpad, mouse or keyboard - all options that I tried. This makes it necessary to constantly restart or skip breaks, which then knocks one or the other of the 2 timers, short and long out of sync, defeating the object of the app. Much to like, but irritating to keep. I’ll be sadly deleting mine for an alternative.

Developer Response
,03/01/2018

I'm sorry Time Out wasn't reliable for you. The issue of the status item disappearing would be because that is a supporter reward; you can try it for an hour at a time for free. Not detecting idle might be due to not being authorized in the Accessibility System Preferences, or you could switch idle detectors in the Advanced prefs. I hope you'll give the app another try!

gibfahn
,12/06/2018

Does exactly what I need

I use this app to remind me to take breaks, and it's perfect for that. It makes the screen unusable, but also makes it really easy to cancel that, which is the best of both worlds.

You can get 90% of what you need from the free version, but there are a couple of paid features that are really helpful, which reminds you to financially reward the developer for their hard work.

All in all zero complaints with this app, it works well, looks nice, and keeps me healthier.

gibfahn
,12/06/2018

Does exactly what I need

I use this app to remind me to take breaks, and it's perfect for that. It makes the screen unusable, but also makes it really easy to cancel that, which is the best of both worlds.

You can get 90% of what you need from the free version, but there are a couple of paid features that are really helpful, which reminds you to financially reward the developer for their hard work.

All in all zero complaints with this app, it works well, looks nice, and keeps me healthier.

James Taylor-Loftus
,15/05/2017

Version 2.2.1 - A well designed, slick and results-driven app

A joy to use as a free version, although I would recommend selecting one of the (modest) In-App Supporter purchase options to permanently unlock the full might of Time Out. The designer, David Sinclair, was quick (via email) in responding to a functionality query I had - since fully resolved. Give Time Out a try, and by doing so get used to taking those much needed breaks from your device; your health depends on it!

James Taylor-Loftus
,15/05/2017

Version 2.2.1 - A well designed, slick and results-driven app

A joy to use as a free version, although I would recommend selecting one of the (modest) In-App Supporter purchase options to permanently unlock the full might of Time Out. The designer, David Sinclair, was quick (via email) in responding to a functionality query I had - since fully resolved. Give Time Out a try, and by doing so get used to taking those much needed breaks from your device; your health depends on it!